


Falling (Not Flying)

by HappyPoodle



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - BDSM, Dom/sub, M/M, Past Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-05
Updated: 2015-11-05
Packaged: 2018-04-30 03:40:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5148911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HappyPoodle/pseuds/HappyPoodle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Tony would heal him and free him and teach him to fly"</p>
<p>Only, it wasn't that easy. Bucky hadn't meant to let things get this far, but they’d found another Hydra base and then there was Tony’s board meeting and now….. Now Bucky was three days into his cycle trying desperately to keep from dropping. He knew what that meant. He was headed for a bad drop, and fast. </p>
<p>Inspired by "Secret Depths" by 27 dragons. This isn't a separate story- I'm just using all their hard work and adding in a chapter of stuff I'd like to imagine happened.</p>
<p>To give a SUPER high-level summary: This is a Dom/Sub universe in which subs drop into subspace periodically whether they want to or not. Bucky has been abused by Hydra and hidden his submissive side. He went to Tony during a drop once and now he and Tony are in a relationship. Tony is a good Dom and trying to show Bucky that not all Dom/sub relationships are terrible</p>
            </blockquote>





	Falling (Not Flying)

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Secret Depths](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3604254) by [27dragons](https://archiveofourown.org/users/27dragons/pseuds/27dragons). 



Bucky hadn't meant to let things get this far, but they’d found another Hydra base and then there was Tony’s board meeting and now….. Now Bucky was three days into his cycle trying desperately to keep from dropping. He knew what that meant. He was headed for a bad drop, and fast. He should have just told Tony, but whenever he opened his mouth, the words stuck in his throat. Hydra hadn’t tolerated mistakes and old habits were hard to shake. 

He bit his lip and started to inch his way out of Tony’s lab. He’d failed to say anything, again. Maybe he’d just lock himself in his room and ride this one out on his own. He’d done it before. He could go to Tony on his next cycle. 

“Buck?” Tony’s voice stopped him before he could leave the lab. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Just tired.” Bucky couldn’t meet Tony’s eyes.

“You sure?” 

There was a little more command in Tony’s voice this time. Bucky closed his eyes and resisted it’s pull. _You made your bed. Now you have to lie in it._ “Yeah.” 

“Okay.” Tony sighed and wiped his hands on a rag before walking over to Bucky. “Brooklyn.”

Bucky’s head snapped up. “ _What?_ ” That was _his_ safeword!

“You’ve been fighting this drop for days, Buck. I can’t stand here and watch you drive yourself into a bad drop.”

“How..?” Bucky’s mouth was hanging open. 

“Believe it or not, I am a semi-competent Dom, and I care about you. I know what fighting off a drop looks like. I just don’t know _why_ you’re fighting it. If it’s me...” Tony’s voice trailed off. “I don’t want you to be scared, Buck. It doesn’t have to be me. If you don’t want this..”

“No!” Bucky said quickly. “I do. I want it. It’s just...there was the Hydra base and the board meeting and then I’d already put it off to long and…” he bit his lip.

“You were afraid to tell me.” Tony finished for him. 

Bucky nodded miserably. 

“Come here.” Tony opened his arms and Bucky let himself be pulled into an embrace. “You don’t have to be perfect, Buck. Stuff like this takes time, _especially_ after what Hydra did. Even then,” he smoothed Bucky’s hair back from his forehead, “nobody’s perfect. Even you.”

“Sorry.” Bucky mumbled into Tony’s shoulder. Tony was warm, and safe and he let himself slide a little. 

"Whoa, hold on there a sec Bucky.” Tony gently pushed him back a step. “As much as I love to see you when you’re in subspace, we still need to sort out a couple of things. You think you can stick with me for a few more minutes?”

Bucky pulled himself back with an effort. “Yeah.”

“Okay.” Tony smiled at him. “You’re doing great. Now, what do I need to know here? What do I have to worry about when you’ve been holding off like this? Will you have trouble going all the way down? Or are you going to drop like a stone and go too deep?”

Bucky shook his head. “I don’t know. All the other times were with Hydra.”

Tony’s mouth tightened. “Ok. So probably not good.”

Bucky shrugged and looked down. “You’re not Hydra.”

Tony stuck a finger under his chin and lifted his head up. “No. I’m not.” His gaze was serious as he met Bucky’s eyes.

The look, full of calm certainty, was enough to tip Bucky over the edge. “I know.” He managed to say before everything went black and he was going down, down, down.  
******************************************************************************************

Bucky came to in his bed, head cradled in Tony’s lap. “What happened?”

Tony set his StarkPad down and looked down at Bucky. “Apparently, for you, a bad drop means going down like a fucking bullet train.” He managed a tight smile, but his face was drawn. “Your blood pressure hit the floor. I was worried you were going to stop breathing there for a while.”

“Oh.” Bucky reached up to smooth away the worry lines on Tony’s face. “I’m sorry.”

Tony captured his hand and held it to his cheek. “Don’t be sorry. Just don’t do that to me again.”

“I’m sorry.” Bucky said again. “I’ll do better.”

“Yeah, well, so will I.” Tony shook his head. “I should have seen this coming. You’ve spent most of your life fighting your biology. I said I’d take care of you, but then I left you on your own.”

“You didn’t!” Bucky protested but Tony shushed him with a finger to his lips. 

“I did, but I won’t do it again. I have a solution. Remember after that first drop, how I talked about having a code phrase?”

Bucky nodded. “The D-circuit. But we don’t need-”

“Yes, we do.” The command in Tony’s voice quieted Bucky’s protest. “Next time, when you’re panicking, you can just tell me you need maintenance on your D-circuit. It’ll be a hell of a lot easier than coming to me and asking me to drop you.”

Bucky bit his lip. It was true. He’d spent so long fighting against the drops, going down only when his body forced him to. Hydra had taken great pride when they’d beaten him down enough he begged to be dropped. Asking went against everything he’d known. 

“It won’t be forever.” Tony added. “Things will get better. It will get easier. But this way I know you’re safe.”

“Okay.” Bucky said quietly, letting his eyes drift closed again. _Safe_. That was what having a Dom was supposed to mean. Someone to take care of you and keep you safe. He was still broken and still very, very scared, but _this?_ This was worth fighting for.

**Author's Note:**

> If you haven't already, go read Secret Depths. It's sweet and wonderful and generally awesome. It's thanks to their hard work that I get to write this wonderful effortless fluff, instead of trying to sort out details like plot and characterization. 
> 
> HOWEVER....that fic may have been so good it inspired me to write a full stand-alone fic myself. That one will be a lot more "inspired by" and a lot less "literally taking place in someone else's story". However, that will require plot and real effort, so it will be coming a lot later.


End file.
